“Men are presented as desirable not because of their personal qualities, but because of their bodies (Gamble, 2003)(p.354).”

While finding a YouTube video for another post, I ran across this video that was taken on out very own campus in Santoro Hall. It’s an absolutely interesting insight of what goes on behind the closed doors of an adolescent teenage boy. In the video, this college freshman (Santoro is a freshmen residence hall) stands in front of his mirror and goes on and on about how “jacked” he is getting. He’s absolutely thrilled that his work outs are paying off. He even goes as far as to lift his shirt to view his stomach area and tries to get his roommate to put the camera down–but trusts him when the roommate says he “won’t”.

This shows the other side of how media and gender communication can effect people. Here, the boy is obviously proud of his tough, “jacked” body because he’s been influenced by the media and through various other sources. He’s absorbed the idea that men should be masculine, tough, and muscular (according to some new stereotypes about looks regarding men) (Gamble, 2003). It’s funny, but at the same time, it’s interesting to see a candid shot of someone behind closed doors. You could almost say that “Mr. Jacked” has a personal relationship with his roommate in the sense that he feel comfortable behaving this way without feeling insecure.